Examination and evaluation of an International Aid

Programme - ​ ​Afghanistan
Country - Afghanistan

RQ - To what extent has the Afghan Relief Organization assisted Afghanistan in assisting
development and providing education after the war since ​7th October 2001​?

● Will international aid in Afghanistan help develop the country in the long run?
● What are the reasons why Afghanistan needs international aid?
● Who are the main donors to the international aid programme in Afghanistan?
● How much aid does Afghanistan get in order to sustain on their own?

Action Plan:

Date Action Sources Completed

22/02/18 Formulate research The task sheet on Yes

questions and Managebac
complete action plan.

23/02/18 Find information Government websites Yes

about economic and + documentaries +
social challenges in Country reviews +
Afghanistan. websites

24/02/18 Research aid NGO website Yes

programmes ,​https://www.un.org/N
undertaken by Afghan ews/dh/latest/afghan/u
Relief Organization in n-afghan-history.shtml
Afghanistan . ,
http://www.huffington
post.co.uk/subrata-de/f
oreign-aid-afghanistan
_b_10162762.html

25/02/18 Start writing the report Yes

and start planning the
documentary

27/02/18 Continue writing the Yes

report and start
planning the
documentary also read
more about the NGO
 28/02/18 Complete the essay Using an editing Yes
and start filming the software and snippets
video from my essay

10/03/18 Proof read the report Peers Yes

and get peer reviews

11/03/18 Post the task and the Managebac Yes

video on Managebac

The Report

The Afghan Relief Organisation (ARO) was founded in the United States in 1998 and is headed by

volunteers all around the world, namely wealthy Afghans and Americans who want to help. The

Afghan Relief Organisation has distributed food, medical supplies, hygiene supplies (soap,

toothbrushes, etc.), educational supplies and seasonal comfort supplies like seasonal clothing,

blankets, and other relief supplies.The Afghan Relief Organisation supplies all of the mentioned items

to eight hundred youth and adult students.

Ever since the Afghan Relief Organisation was established in 1998 they have provided Afghanistan

with education, food supplies and medical aid. They have created the women's literacy programme

that educates women of all ages. They have also started a dental clinic that helps the Afghans with any

dental or medical requirements. The Afghan Relief Organisation has inspired authors, people and the

country with its participation to develop Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has always been a war-torn zone ever since the late 1970’s, to be precise 1978. This

conflict sprouted when Al-Qaeda and the Taliban who are also known as insurgents, were at their
peak of activity. Ever since the the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan came into power there

have been multiple conflicts “wars”, due to which Afghanistan has been dominated by bloodshed and

violence.

In 1999 the UN’s Security Council passed resolution 1267, announcing the so called Al-Qaeda and

Taliban Sanctions Committee. This resolution relates to the groups as terrorists and presses penalties

on their funding and arms shipments. Later the United Nations Resolution 1267 asserted dominance

upon al-Qaeda’s leader Osama Bin Laden who was the leader of multiple terrorist organizations in

Pakistan (Peshawar) and Afghanistan. Ever since then Afghanistan has been in ruins and is in dire

need of aid.

Afghanistan is in urgent need of multiple types of aid and there are many reasons for it. One of the

main reasons why it is necessary for Afghanistan to be given international aid is that it is a third world

country and also the major war that commenced in 2001 is yet ongoing. The other reason for

Afghanistan to acquire aid is the literacy rate. The estimated adult literacy rate of Afghanistan is 38%

as of the survey done in 2015. The third reason on why Afghanistan needs aid is simply due to the fact

that over the years Afghanistan’s resources have been gradually depleting (​water, food, coal, gold and

other petroleum products like oil and fuel​) ​but when the international aid organizations and NGO’s

stepped in, the access to water in the rural areas has considerably improved.

The below graph displays the amount of people that have access to water in Afghanistan (in millions).

This shows how the rate has improved since the early 2000s till now and it is still growing. This

proves that if people donate, help or even volunteer, how much of a positive impact it can make to a
country.

There are many donors and countries that are helping Afghanistan achieve certain standards and

necessities (food, water, clothing and other miscellaneous comforts). These donors and countries do

not compare to the highest provider, the United States of America. The international community,

which is headed by the United States, has contributed upwards of 100 billion dollars in the last eight

years to reconstruct the still ravaged Afghanistan and rebuild it’s dwindling economy. The US has

expended almost 5.1 billion dollars on Afghanistan’s foreign aid in the past 15 years. The only other

main donors that are providing Afghanistan aid are NGO’s and relief organizations.

It has been over sixteen years and most of the situations have not seen any improvement.

Afghanistan still holds fourth place in the world in the amount of corruption according to

Transparency International

“​https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_perceptions_index_2017​”. This in turn, plays

a big role in Afghanistan’s poverty scenario. In spite of the fact that education being easily available,

the value of the education does not reach global levels. Regardless of the number of supplies and

money that foreign aid has provided, the teachers are receiving extremely low salaries and are not

given enough educational resources to teach and teaching is not a very appealing job for most people.
In Afghanistan, there has recently been a social action campaign known as the Kite Runner and is

based on the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The campaign was initiated by the Afghan

Relief Organization on the 3rd of October 2015. The campaign’s goal is to help NGO’s that are

already actively dealing with the current issues in the area and raise awareness. The Kite Runner

campaign also helps raise awareness about the situation in Afghanistan and other countries that are in

need of aid. This campaign will definitely help Afghanistan in the long run, since this project by the

Afghan Relief Organization is spreading the news worldwide on the current situation that the country

is facing.

Afghanistan desperately needs multiple changes in three main sectors. Those sectors are , sustainable

development, it’s government and it needs to manage its resources. To this day most projects that are

being carried out to further develop Afghanistan and its economy are not sustainable due to a high

corruption rate and money laundering that eventually fills the coffers of the Taliban. Furthermore

financial mismanagement, fraud and bribery have been cut down over the years as the country

develops.

The first involvement in Afghanistan’s development is needed in resource management. Afghanistan

is a very topographical area with many mountain ranges and barren areas. It is also very dry compared

to most of the Middle Eastern countries. Due to its ordinary landscape features, the influence of

climate change, landslides, droughts and floods will have a major impact on the source of income of

thousands if not millions of Afghani population all over the country .

The second involvement in Afghanistan’s development is that it needs a good government. A good

government is the most important part for the development and economic growth of Afghanistan.

Having a good governing body and a non corrupt one can change the course of the countries

economy. If Afghanistan follows some guidelines or sets goals to employment, promote economic
growth and open up more avenues for foreign investors then it will be very beneficial for the country.

Afghanistan should also make the standard of living better which will lead to more people visiting the

country and hence more business.This will also help improve the immigration situation that is

currently happening with the refugees that are fleeing to European countries.

To conclude the country of Afghanistan is facing multiple problems , socially, economically and with

a weak center of administration. The ​Afghan Relief Organisation has helped Afghanistan in many

ways including spreading awareness for the problems that the Afghan residents are facing everyday.

Reflection:

During this task I have improved on many of my skills especially my research and thinking skills. I

have researched a lot about the Afghan Relief Organisation and Afghanistan in general also I have

thought out the process of what I will write and how I will structure the report. I have also learned a

lot on the creation of documentaries and how to write a script for it . I could have improved on my

research on the economic side of Afghanistan and the NGO that I researched since there was not a lot

of information on the Afghan Relief Organisation other than their own website. I could have taken a

government initiative or another NGO that had more information.

Referencing :

Moonzajer, Walt, Cook and Lewis

Moonzajer, Walt, Cook and Lewis (2015). ​Sustaining Afghanistan's Economy.​ [online] Foreign
Policy. Available at: http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/01/05/sustaining-afghanistans-economy/
[Accessed 1 Mar. 2018].

United Nations and Afghanistan

Un.org. (2018). ​United Nations and Afghanistan​. [online] Available at:
https://www.un.org/News/dh/latest/afghan/un-afghan-history.shtml [Accessed 1 Mar. 2018].

Shukla, A.
Shukla, A. (2017). ​Opinion | India Does Not Need Boots on Afghan Ground​. [online] Nytimes.com.
Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/opinion/india-afghanistan-pakistan.html
[Accessed 1 Mar. 2018].

Norton-Taylor, R.
Norton-Taylor, R. (2008). ​40% of Afghan aid returns to donor countries, says report​. [online] the
Guardian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/25/afghanistan.internationalaidanddevelopment1
[Accessed 1 Mar. 2018].

World donors pledge $15 billion for Afghanistan

Aljazeera.com. (2016). ​World donors pledge $15 billion for Afghanistan​. [online] Available at:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/afghanistan-aid-donors-pledge-billions-brussels-161005130
723718.html [Accessed 1 Mar. 2018].

Why Afghanistan Still Needs Foreign Aid

HuffPost UK. (2016). ​Why Afghanistan Still Needs Foreign Aid​. [online] Available at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/subrata-de/foreign-aid-afghanistan_b_10162762.html [Accessed 1
Mar. 2018].

The Politics of India’s Foreign Aid to South Asia | Global Policy Journal
Globalpolicyjournal.com. (2018). ​The Politics of India’s Foreign Aid to South Asia | Global Policy
Journal​. [online] Available at:
http://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/07/11/2016/politics-india%E2%80%99s-foreign-aid-south-
asia [Accessed 1 Mar. 2018].

International Community Must Aid Afghanistan in Direct Talks between Government, Armed
Groups, Top United Nations Official Tells Security Council | Meetings Coverage and Press
Releases
Un.org. (2018). ​International Community Must Aid Afghanistan in Direct Talks between Government,
Armed Groups, Top United Nations Official Tells Security Council | Meetings Coverage and Press
Releases​. [online] Available at: https://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sc11936.doc.htm [Accessed 1 Mar.
2018].

Mohammad Samim, T. D.
Mohammad Samim, T. (2018). ​Afghanistan’s Addiction to Foreign Aid​. [online] The Diplomat.
Available at: https://thediplomat.com/2016/05/afghanistans-addiction-to-foreign-aid/ [Accessed 1
Mar. 2018].